The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has established an
exclusive centre for selling the products of self-help groups (SHG) at
the Central Bus Stand.

The centre is likely to be
inaugurated soon and it will be manned by a federation of SHGs. It will
coordinate with the self-help groups functioning in the corporation
limits to display their products for sales.

V.P. Thandapani, Corporation Commissioner, told
The Hindu
that it would be a boost to the SHGs and the Federation of SHGs in
Tiruchi, who were struggling to market their products under financial
constraints in finding permanent shops.

It was
expected to get good patronage among the people as it was located at the
bus stand, which received thousands of passengers daily. A departmental
store had been established.

Stating that it had
formed a Federation of SHGs, he said 130 persons, two persons from each
of 65 wards, had been enrolled as members of the federation. They would
network with the SHG members.

The federation would
create a complete database listing the skills of SHG members such as
carpentry, masonry, electric and electronic repairs, two wheeler
mechanism, floor cleaning, interior decoration, and so on.

It
was aimed at generating employment for the SHG members through various
sources. The immediate idea was to tap the services required by
residents’ welfare associations of various apartments. They could take
up works such as sanitation and mosquito control. The office-bearers of
the associations would be given the contact numbers of workers attached
to the SHGs and Federation, Mr. Thandapani said.

He
added that the corporation had established 15 multi-purpose service
centres in different parts of 65 wards. They could receive complaints
from their respective areas, and pass them to officials to find
solutions.